act-1915-0-420•Pennsylvania Act 1915-420 — ROOMING HOUSES AND TENEMENTS, CONSTRUCTION AND USE REGULATED
Pennsylvania Act 1915-420 — ROOMING HOUSES AND TENEMENTS, CONSTRUCTION AND USE REGULATED
act-1915-0-4201915 Pa. Act 420Law
Act text
ROOMING HOUSES AND TENEMENTS, CONSTRUCTION AND USE REGULATED
Act of Jun. 3, 1915, P.L. 954, No. 420 Cl. 11
AN ACT
To protect the public health and safety: By regulating the
erection, alteration, repair, use, occupancy, maintenance,
sanitation, and condemnation of dwellings, two-family
dwellings, rooming-houses, and tenements; by regulating the
use, maintenance, and sanitation of the grounds surrounding
the same, the adjoining buildings, and all vacant land, in
cities of the first class; providing for their inspection,
the abatement of nuisances, the vacating of uninhabitable
houses, and the filing of liens; creating a Division of
Housing and Sanitation; and providing penalties for
violations of the provisions thereof, and repealing all laws
inconsistent therewith.
Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That there shall be in cities
of the first class a Division of Housing and Sanitation,
attached to the Department of Public Health and Charities; which
division and all its officers and employes shall be under the
supervision and control of the Director of the Department of
Public Health and Charities, and shall, under said department,
have jurisdiction over all matters coming within the provisions
of this act, and all laws, ordinances of such cities, and rules
and regulations of the Bureau or Board of Health, in any way
affecting or regulating the use, occupancy, sanitation, or
maintenance of all buildings, grounds, and vacant lands herein
mentioned.
ORGANIZATION.
Section 2. There shall be a chief of the said division, to
be known as the Chief of the Division of Housing and Sanitation,
who shall have had experience in sanitary work. An assistant
chief and one or more supervising inspectors, all of whom shall
be qualified by training or experience; a statistician,
sufficient inspectors, and such stenographers, typewriters,
messengers, and other employes as the Director of the Department
of Public Health and Charities shall deem necessary, subject to
the approval of select council. The city councils, with the
approval of the mayor, shall fix their respective salaries. None
of the foregoing officers shall be otherwise employed.
The Director of the Department of Public Health and Charities
shall, immediately after the city councils by ordinance create
the said division, organize and establish said division by
transfer thereto of the inspectors and employes of the Division
of Sanitation and Tenement House Inspection. Where there is no
substantial change made in the duties or salary of the person
transferred, he shall be placed in the new position without a
civil service examination. Such other employes as this act
provides for shall be appointed by the Director of the
Department. The chief of the division shall forthwith organize a
subdivision thereof, which shall have charge and control of all
matters relating to the construction and reconstruction of the
plumbing and house connections of all buildings. Said
subdivision shall be in immediate charge of one of the
supervising inspectors. Said supervising inspectors, and each of
the persons who may perform the duties of the examinations of
plans of proposed plumbing work, or the inspection of plumbing
and house connections, or who may perform any of the technical
work necessary in the operation of this division, shall be
required to have had at least five years' experience as a
practical plumber.
DUTIES OF OFFICERS.
Section 3. The chief of the division shall have the
management and direction of all matters coming within the
jurisdiction of and pertaining to the Division of Housing and
Sanitation. He shall provide for the inspection of all
properties under the provisions of this act. He shall keep
suitable records of inspections, together with all permits and
orders, which shall be open to public inspection during business
hours.
The Director of the Department of Public Health and Charities
may revise or revoke any action of the chief of said division.
The assistant chief shall assist in the management and
control of all matters pertaining to the division, and, in the
absence or disability of the chief, exercise all the powers of
said chief.
The other inspectors shall, under the direction of their
superior officers, inspect all properties under this act, as
often as necessary, and make adequate records and reports
thereof, and perform such other duties as shall properly come
within the scope of said division.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
Section 4. Whenever in this act the "present tense" is used,
it shall include the future tense.
The "masculine gender" shall include the feminine and neuter
genders.
The "singular number" shall include the plural.
The word "shall" shall be mandatory and not directory.
The word "person" shall include any association, partnership
or corporation as well as a natural person.
The word "converted" shall mean either a change in the
character of occupancy or in construction.
The words "ordinances," "regulations," "Bureau of Building
Inspection," "department," or "board," or "Bureau of Health"
shall be construed as if followed by the words "in cities of the
first class."
The words "is occupied," applying to any building, shall be
construed as if followed by the words "or is intended, arranged,
or designed to be occupied."
The words "satisfactory or approved" shall be construed as if
followed by the words "to" or "by" "the chief of the division of
housing and sanitation."
The term "tenement" shall mean any house or building which,
or a portion of which, is occupied as a residence by three or
more families, living independently of each other, and doing
their cooking on the premises, and having a common right in the
halls, stairways, yard, cellar, or water-closets thereof, or
some of them.
The term "dwelling" shall mean any house or building, not a
lodging-house within the terms of the act of Assembly of July
second, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five (Pamphlet
Laws, four hundred and twenty-eight), entitled "An act to
regulate and license public lodging-houses in the different
cities in this Commonwealth," and not a tenement rooming-house
or inn, all or any part of which is occupied as the home or
residence of a family, or of two or more families living
independently of each other, and having no common right or use
of any hall, stairway, cellar, water-closet, or privy; and
whether such house is built singly, or as part of a double
house, or in conjunction with others in an attached or semi-
detached row, it shall be deemed a dwelling.
A "two-family dwelling" is any house not a tenement,
dwelling, rooming-house or inn, and which is occupied by two
families, who use a common entrance or hallway.
The term "rooming-house" shall mean and include any house or
building, or portion thereof, not a lodging-house within the
terms of the act of Assembly of July second, one thousand eight
hundred and ninety-five (Pamphlet Laws, four hundred and twenty-
eight), entitled "An act to regulate and license public lodging-
houses in the different cities in this Commonwealth," and not a
tenement or inn, and in which persons, either as single
individuals or as families, are harbored or received, housed or
lodged, for hire or otherwise, for a single day or night or for
a longer period; provided that this shall not include a dwelling
where less than five persons are so received and lodged.
The term "apartment" shall mean a room, or suits of two or
more rooms, which is or are occupied as a home for one or more
persons.
For the purpose of this act, all buildings herein referred to
shall be graded according to their use or occupancy. Buildings
of the highest or first grade shall include all dwellings, as
hereinbefore defined. Buildings of the second grade shall
include all two-family dwellings, as hereinbefore defined.
Buildings of the third and lowest grade shall include all
rooming-houses and tenements, as hereinbefore defined.
A living-room, or room used for living purposes, is any room,
not a water-closet, bath-room, or other room used solely for
storage or closet purposes, and which is used, in whole or in
part, for any household purpose.
A yard is an open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a
tenement, rooming-house, or dwelling, and which space extends in
its full width or depth between opposite lot lines.
A court is an open, unoccupied space, other than a yard, on
the same lot with a tenement, rooming-house, or dwelling.
A sewer is a public sewer, or a private sewer tributary
thereto, and accepted by the bureau of surveys.
A school sink is any vault or box used, or designated to be
used, to receive urine and fecal matter which is washed to the
sewer by means of a steady or intermittent flow of water.
An entrance hall is a public hall on the first story,
admission to which is made from the street or yard, court or
alley.
A public hall is a hall, corridor, or passageway not within
an apartment.
A stair hall includes the stairs, stair landings, and the
portion of any hall through which it is necessary to pass in
going between the entrance floor and roof.
A basement is a room or rooms partly, but not more than one-
half below the level of the ground surrounding the building.
A cellar is a room, or rooms, more than one-half below the
level of the ground surrounding the building.
APPROVING PLANS.
Section 5. All plans for the erection, construction, or
alteration of buildings of the grade referred to in this act,
for the alteration of houses already erected, or other buildings
intended for occupancy for any other grade, besides being
submitted to the bureaus now charged with the approval of the
same, shall be submitted to the Chief of the Division of Housing
and Sanitation, for his approval of the sanitary requirements of
said plans and of the sanitary conditions surrounding the ground
over which the proposed building is to be erected; and until
such approval is obtained and indorsed on such plans the work
for construction or alteration shall not begin. All plans for
the installation or alteration of plumbing, ventilation,
fixtures, cesspools, sinks, or privy-wells shall be submitted to
the supervising inspector in charge of plumbing and house
drainage, for his approval.
LIGHT AND VENTILATION.
Per Centum of Lot to be Occupied.
Section 6. No building shall be occupied as a tenement
unless it shall have appurtenant to it in the rear or at the
side, and as a part of the lot upon which it is located, an open
space equal to at least twenty per centum of the entire area of
such lot, which open space shall be unobstructed by any
overhanging structure except fire-escapes required by law;
unless, however, such tenement shall be located upon a corner of
two streets, neither of which is less than twenty feet in width,
in which case said tenement shall have an open space attached to
it, in the rear or at the side next the adjoining lot, equal in
area to at least ten per centum of the entire area of the lot
upon which said tenement is located, which open space shall be
unobstructed by any overhanging structure except fire-escapes
required by law; and any such tenement located upon a lot
bounded on three sides by streets, none of which is less than
twenty feet in width, may cover the entire area of said lot:
Provided, That at least one window, not less than the minimum
size hereinafter provided, opening from each of the rooms in
such tenement, shall open upon one of the streets. Such open
space attached to every tenement shall be at least eight feet in
width throughout its entire length. No court or open space
between tenements, or between wings of a tenement, shall be of a
less width than twelve feet, except in buildings erected prior
to June seventh, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, and
which are not over three stories in height; where the open space
is between the walls of the walls of the wings of tenements
there shall be an approved open space five feet in width,
provided the length of such wing or wings is not more than
thirty feet, and, for each additional ten feet in length, there
shall be an additional foot in width, provided there is at the
rear or at the side of the lot upon which the building is
erected an open space equal to at least twenty per centum of the
entire lot area, which open space shall be unobstructed by any
overhanging structure except fire-escapes required by law. If
such tenement is situated on a lot which is bounded on two
opposite sides by streets, then at least one end of every such
open space shall abut upon one of said streets. Every court or
shaft furnishing light or air to any such tenement shall open,
upon one side, into a street, or into a yard or open space,
except such shafts as are used solely for ventilation of water-
closets or bath-rooms, which, for the purpose of cleaning same,
shall have a door or window giving sufficient access for such
purposes on the ground floor leading thereto. Buildings erected
as tenements, or physically altered into tenements, prior to
June seventh, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, shall
be exempt from the provisions of this section governing the
percentage of the lot occupied, the width between the wings and
the width of the court; and such other buildings shall likewise
be exempt as have been listed on the records of the Department
of Public Health and Charities, and consecutively occupied as
tenements prior to the passage of this act: Provided, however,
That whenever any building which had been erected prior to
January first, one thousand nine hundred forty-three, is about
to be or has been converted into a tenement, the board of
adjustment of any city of the first class authorized to be
established by the act, approved the sixth day of May, one
thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine (Pamphlet Laws, one
thousand five hundred fifty-one), shall have the authority,
after investigation and public hearing, to determine that the
area of open space required under the terms of this section to
be appurtenant to tenements is not necessary for the protection
of the public health and welfare, and to issue a certificate of
variance, as respects said open space. In such case, the
provisions herein contained respecting the area requirement of
open space shall not be applicable.
(6 amended May 26, 1943, P.L.623, No.272)
ALTERATION OF BUILDING AND OPEN AREAS.
Section 7. No yard, court, or open area, appurtenant to any
building of the grades referred to in this act, shall be
reduced, through the erection or alteration of any kind of
building on the same lot, to a size less than the minimum yard,
court, or open area required when new buildings of like grade
are constructed.
CHANGE IN GRADE OF OCCUPANCY.
Section 8. No building of a higher grade of occupancy shall
be converted to the use of a building of a lower grade of
occupancy, except as provided in section six of this act, unless
it shall be made to conform in all particulars, as to safety in
structure and requirements in sanitation and health, to the
class to which the lower grade belongs. No building not now in
one of the grades referred to in this act shall be converted
into any such grade without conforming to all the requirements
of this and other acts, and all the rules and regulations
relating to such grades.
TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGS.
Section 9. All two-family dwellings, unless otherwise
specifically stand in this act, shall be subject to the same
requirements as dwellings.
INCREASE IN HEIGHT OF BUILDINGS.
Section 10. No building of any grade referred to in this act
shall be increased in height, if it is situated on a rear lot,
alley, court, street, or other passageway twenty feet or less in
width.
LIGHT.
Section 11. Whenever the windows of a building used for
human habitation receive their light from a yard, alley, court,
or passageway, the line of which is formed by a fence six feet
in height, wall or building five or less feet distant, such
fence, wall, or building, facing such yard, alley, court, or
passageway, shall be white-washed or painted white, and shall be
maintained in such condition so as to reflect the maximum
available light to such windows.
WINDOWS.
Section 12. No room in any tenement erected or converted
since June seventh, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five,
shall be occupied for living purposes, unless it has a window
lighting area of at least twelve square feet, the upper half of
which surface shall open fully. At least one window of the
required size shall open directly upon a street, yard, or open
area not less than that provided for in section six of this act.
No room in any other building of the grades referred to in this
act shall be occupied for living purposes, unless it has a
window or windows of an approved lighting area opening to the
outer air. The upper half of all such windows shall open fully.
ALCOVE AND ALCOVE ROOMS.
Section 13. No part of any room, in any building of the
grades referred to in this act, shall be enclosed or subdivided,
in whole or in part, by a fixed or movable partition, or other
contrivance or device, unless such part of the room, so enclosed
or subdivided, shall contain a separate window as herein
required for ordinary rooms, and shall have a floor area of not
less than seventy square feet: Provided, That rooms used solely
for kitchens, kitchenettes, bath rooms, laundries, water closet
compartments, shall be exempt from the provisions of this
section with reference to floor area: Provided further, That all
kitchens, kitchenettes, bath rooms, laundries, and water closet
compartments shall be equipped for the purpose for which the
room is planned.
(13 amended May 16, 1921, P.L.617, No.267)
WINDOWS IN HALLS.
Section 14. No tenement erected prior to June seventh, one
thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, no dwelling converted
into a tenement, no two-family dwelling or rooming-house, shall
be used for human habitation, unless all public halls are
lighted on each floor by a window, or windows, of an approved
lighting area, opening directly to the outer air, the upper half
of which surface opens fully: Provided, however, That whenever
any such public hall cannot reasonably be so lighted and
ventilated, translucent glass panels of at least four square
feet shall be inserted in the wall or in the doors, or as
transoms above the doors, leading to the rooms whose windows
open directly to the outer air. Such halls shall have a
ventilating skylight of satisfactory area in the top floor,
directly over the stairway, and, where such is or may be built
in, it shall be an acceptable substitute for windows either
leading to the outer air or to rooms that lead to the outer air,
on the top floor. No tenement erected since June seventh, one
thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, shall be occupied for
human habitation, unless the windows in its public halls conform
to the requirements of section three of the act of Assembly of
June seventh, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five
(Pamphlet Laws, one hundred and seventy-eight), entitled "A
supplement to an act, entitled 'An act amending section one of
article three of an act, entitled "An act for the better
government of cities of the first class in this Commonwealth,"
approved the first day of June, Anno Domini one thousand eight
hundred and eighty-five, regulating the construction,
maintenance, and inspection of buildings,' approved the eighth
day of June, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and ninety-
three, regulating the construction, alteration, and ventilation
of tenement-houses, and providing for the safety of the
inhabitants thereof, and providing penalties for the violation
of the same." If, after the foregoing provisions have been
complied with, such public halls are not adequately lighted in
the daytime, the owner, lessee, or conductor of such house shall
keep a proper light burning in the hallways, near the stairs, as
may be necessary, from sunrise to sunset.
LIGHT IN PUBLIC HALLS AT NIGHT.
Section 15. In every public hall, near the stairs in a
tenement-or rooming-house, an adequate light shall be kept
lighted by the conductor, from sunset to at least ten post
meridian; and in the entrance hall, and the hall of the second
floor above, an adequate light shall be kept lighted all night.
Such light shall be adequately protected by a glass shade or
wire screen.
LIGHT IN CORRIDORS, CELLARS, ET CETERA.
Section 16. Whenever it is necessary to improve the lighting
of any hall, corridor, cellar, basement, or other part of a two-
family dwelling, rooming-house, or tenement, used in common by
two or more families, in addition to the provisions for this
purpose otherwise stated in this act, the Chief of the Division
of Housing and Sanitation may order the walls and ceiling, or
both, to be painted or white-washed, kalsomined, or papered in
white or other approved light color.
CELLAR VENTILATION.
Section 17. The cellar or space underneath the first floor
of every building used for human habitation, shall, when
feasible, be so ventilated as to secure a constant supply of
fresh air, and when feasible shall be lighted by windows.
CELLAR AND BASEMENT ROOMS.
Section 18. No cellar or cellar-room shall be used for
living purposes. No basement room in any building of the grades
referred to in this act shall be used for living purposes, other
than laundry, the finished ceiling of which is less than seven
feet above the finished floor level, and the walls of which are
not damp-proof and water-proof. Such rooms shall have a window
area equal to that required in section twelve, and shall not be
used for sleeping purposes, unless along the side containing the
window there is an open area, of not less than six inches, below
the level of the window sill, and extending upward to the
surface of the street, which area shall be satisfactorily
drained. The tenant of a cellar-room or basement not conforming
to the above requirements shall be subject to the penalties
hereinafter provided for violations of this act, and the chief
of the division shall thereupon notify the agent or owner, and
the lessor if he be not the owner, that such tenancy shall be
terminated.
SANITATION.
Courts and Areas to be Drained.
Section 19. All courts, yards, areas, and alleys about
buildings of the grades referred to in this act shall be
properly graded, so as to receive thorough drainage in all their
parts. If necessary the chief of the division shall order such
spaces filled or repaved, so as to eliminate all stagnant ponds
or waters and thus destroy the breeding places of mosquitoes.
RAIN LEADERS.
Section 20. The rain conductors of all buildings of the
grades referred to in this act shall be connected with a sewer,
if there is one in the street contiguous thereto, or, if there
is none, as soon as such sewer is laid, but at no time shall the
flow therefrom be permitted to go over the sidewalk or upon the
adjoining property.
RAIN CONDUCTORS NOT TO BE USED AS WASTE PIPES.
Section 21. No fixture, sink, closet, or drain of any kind,
receiving house sewage, shall empty into a rain conductor, nor
discharge on a roof draining to a rain conductor.
HOUSE TO BE SEWER CONNECTED.
Section 22. Every dwelling or rooming-house accessible to a
sewer shall be connected therewith. All privy-vaults or
cesspools and school sinks shall be removed from the premises of
any dwelling or rooming-house after a sewer has been laid in a
contiguous street. No building shall be used as a tenement
unless it is sewer connected, and all cesspools, privy-vaults,
and school sinks shall have been removed from the premises
thereof.
WATER-CLOSETS.
Section 23. Every dwelling to which a public sewer and
water-main is accessible shall have a water-closet, thoroughly
flushed at all times, in a separate and independent compartment;
and in dwellings having a furnace or other heating-system there
shall be, when feasible, at least one such water-closet located
within such dwelling in a separate compartment or in a bath-
room.
NUMBER AND LOCATION OF WATER-CLOSETS.
Section 24. In every rooming-house there shall be at least
one water-closet, in a separate compartment, for every four
rooms or major fractional part thereof, approached by an
entrance independent of any living room. In each two-family
house or tenement there shall be at least one water-closet,
contained in a separate compartment, for each family occupying
the premises; except that, where there are apartments of one or
two rooms, there shall be at least one water-closet for each
three families, located in a separate compartment on the same
floor with the apartments it is to serve, if feasible;
otherwise, it shall be in a place easily accessible to such
apartments. Such water-closet shall be approached by at least
one entrance independent of a living room. At least one water-
closet, for each other apartment in such buildings, shall have
at least one entrance by separate hall or passageway,
independent of a room used for sleeping purposes; except that,
where such apartment consists of a kitchen, a bath-room and not
more than two living-rooms, and is occupied by not more than one
family, said entrance may be direct from a living-room. No
water-closet shall be maintained in the cellar or basement of
any building, without a permit from the Bureau or Board of
Health; but under no circumstances shall the general water-
closet accommodations of a rooming-house or tenement be
permitted in a cellar or basement.
PRIVIES.
Section 25. Where a sewer is not accessible to a dwelling
there shall be a privy-vault located in the yard thereof, and
constructed in accordance with the laws, ordinances, and rules
of the Bureau or Board of Health relating thereto. Such privy-
vault shall be cleaned to the bottom whenever the contents come
within three feet of the level of the ground outside, or within
three feet of the floor of the privy-house, if such floor is
below the level of the surrounding ground, and shall be
corrected with lime by the tenant or occupant of the property
whenever it becomes foul.
WATER-SUPPLY.
Section 26. Where water-mains have been placed in a street,
and there is sufficient pressure, water shall be introduced in
every dwelling, and in every apartment of two or more rooms in a
two-family house, and in a tenement: Provided, That, in sparsely
populated districts where there is a well upon the premises, and
the water therefrom is of standard purity required by the Board
of Health, such well may be considered an acceptable substitute
for water in dwellings. When one or more apartments consist of
but one room, there shall be at least one source of water-
supply, in an easily accessible place, for every two such
apartments. In all rooming-houses water shall be introduced in
an accessible place on each floor: Provided, That where less
than three rooms are on each floor of a rooming-house, water may
be introduced on every alternate floor. Wherever a water fixture
is introduced, a sink, and suitable drain, properly trapped,
leading from it, shall also be installed. No such sink in a
tenement shall be enclosed with any woodwork.
PLUMBING.
Section 27. All plumbing, water-closets, and the
compartments in which they are located, pipes and other like
fixtures in dwellings, rooming-houses, and tenements, shall be
installed and maintained, in accordance with the plumbing
regulations of cities of the first class.
CELLARS TO BE DAMP-PROOF AND WATER-PROOF.
Section 28. All cellars or spaces beneath the first floor or
basement of any building of the grades referred to in this act
shall be damp-proof and water-proof, and when, in the opinion of
the Chief of the Division of Housing and Sanitation, conditions
require it, they shall be concreted with good concrete and a
finished surface to a depth of not less than four inches, and
the walls shall be coated with the same or other nonpermeable
surfacing to such depth as to prevent the incoming of water.
OCCUPANCY-OVERCROWDING.
Section 29. No room in any dwelling-house, rooming-house, or
tenement-house, which is used for sleeping purposes, shall be
occupied or permitted to be occupied at any time by more
occupants than would permit for each occupant over twelve years
of age at least four hundred cubic feet of air space, and for
each occupant under twelve years of age at least two hundred
cubic feet of air space.
ANIMALS AND FOWLS IN BUILDINGS.
Section 30. No horse, cow, calf, swine, sheep, or goat shall
be kept or slaughtered in a dwelling, rooming-house, or
tenement, or any part thereof; nor shall any other animal or
fowl, deemed objectionable by the Chief of the Division of
Housing and Sanitation, be kept or slaughtered in any such
building; nor shall any of the aforesaid animals or such fowl be
kept in the yard of any such building, or the lot thereof, or
the property adjoining, in closely built-up sections, without
the person desiring to keep the same first having obtained a
permit from the Bureau or Board of Health. Application for such
permit shall be accompanied by a fee of fifty cents; and such
permit, when granted, shall expire not later than the calendar
year for which it is issued.
UNINHABITABLE HOUSES TO BE VACATED.
Section 31. Whenever any dwelling-house, tenement-house,
two-family dwelling-house, or rooming-house, or any part
thereof, for any reason whatsoever, is unfit for human
habitation or is dangerous to life and health, or is being
maintained and occupied contrary to the laws and ordinances
governing such buildings in cities of the first class or the
provisions of this act, or is dangerous to life and health, the
Chief of the Division of Housing and Sanitation shall issue an
order to all persons therein requiring them to vacate such
building, or part thereof, within not less than one or more than
thirty days after service of such notice; the reason therefor to
be mentioned in such order, a copy of which shall be served at
the same time upon the last registered owner of such property,
by leaving the same at the last known residence or address of
such owner, or, if such address is not known, by posting the
same in a conspicuous place upon such building. And it shall
thereafter be unlawful for any person or persons to occupy, or
permit the occupancy of, such house, or any designated part
thereof, until the Chief of the Division of Housing and
Sanitation is satisfied that the provisions of the laws of the
Commonwealth, the ordinances of the city, and the rules and
regulations of the Bureau or Board of Health have been complied
with, and that the dangers from said house have ceased to exist.
And whenever, in the opinion of the Chief of the Division of
Housing and Sanitation, any building of any kind is in such
physical condition as to be a menace to life or to adjoining
properties, he shall forthwith report the same to the Department
of Public Safety.
MANUFACTURING IN HOUSES.
Section 32. No room or rooms in any dwelling-house, rooming-
house, or tenement which are used for manufacturing purposes
shall be occupied, at any one time, by more persons than would
give to each occupant at least four hundred cubic feet of air
space; and no such room or rooms shall be so occupied, in any
instance, except by a permit from the Bureau or Board of Health,
which permit shall expire not later than the calendar year for
which it is issued. No such permit shall be granted if such use
would create dust, foul odors, or undue noise, liable to affect
injuriously the health or comfort of those engaged therein, or
of the tenants, occupants, or neighbors.
JANITOR.
Section 33. In a tenement occupied by six or more families,
in which the owner or conductor does not reside, there shall be
a janitor, house-keeper, or other responsible person, who shall
reside therein and have charge thereof, if required by the chief
of the division.
WOODEN TENEMENTS.
Section 34. No wooden building exceeding three stories in
height shall be occupied as a tenement; and no wooden building
of any height shall be occupied as a tenement, if located within
the limits established by councils in cities of the first class
prohibiting the erection of frame buildings.
FIRE-ESCAPES.
Section 35. No building of any of the grades referred to in
this act shall be used for human habitation unless it is
equipped with a fire-escape or fire-escapes as required by law:
Provided, That any building of such grades having less than four
(4) stories, and used as a rooming-house or tenement, the third
story of which shall contain not more than five (5) rooms and a
bath-room, and such third story is not occupied by more than ten
(10) persons, and has at least one stairway therefrom, shall be
exempt from the provisions of the acts of Assembly requiring
fire-towers and outside fire-escapes for such buildings, if
every apartment above the second floor in any of said buildings
shall be equipped with a satisfactory wire, chain, or other safe
fire-escape.
NO INCUMBRANCE ON FIRE-ESCAPE.
Section 36. The owner of every occupied dwelling upon which
there is a fire-escape shall keep such fire-escape in good order
and repair, and wherever rusty shall have it properly painted
with two coats of paint. No person shall at any time place any
incumbrance of any kind before or upon any fire-escape, scuttle,
or bulkhead. The tenant or occupant of each apartment shall be
liable for any incumbrances on the fire-escape, scuttle, or
bulkhead adjoining his apartment.
STORAGE OF CERTAIN GOODS FORBIDDEN.
Section 37. No dwelling, rooming-house, or tenement, or any
part thereof, occupied as such, shall be used as a place of
storage, keeping, or handling of feed, hay, straw, excelsior,
cotton, paper-stock, feathers, or rags, or for any matter or
thing dangerous or detrimental to health or life, except as
hereinafter provided; nor shall any such building or any
adjacent or contiguous property receive, store, or keep dung, or
manure of any kind, except a stable, where such cleanings from
the stalls may be stored for a period of not longer than seven
days, in a water-tight sanitary bin, built wholly inside the
building line of the property upon which it is situated:
Provided, That in sparsely populated districts such stable
cleanings may be kept for a longer period, if kept according to
the rules and regulations of the Board or Bureau of Health.
COMBUSTIBLE MATERIALS-PAINTS, OILS, ET CETERA.
Section 38. No basement or cellar or room, or rooms, in any
dwelling or rooming-house shall be used as a paint- or oil-shop,
or for any kind of a store where highly combustible materials or
goods are kept, unless the same conform to the rules and
regulations of the Board or Bureau of Health approved by select
council.
BAKERIES AND FAT BOILING.
Section 39. No tenement-house, or any part thereof, shall be
used as a bakery or as any place of business in which fat is
boiled, unless the ceiling, side walls, and all exposed woodwork
therein, or in the part thereof so used, is lined with fire-
proof materials satisfactory to the chief of the division and
the Director of the Department of Public Safety.
MAINTENANCE-CLEANLINESS.
Section 40. The occupant or tenant of every dwelling and of
each apartment in a two-family dwelling, or the lessee or
conductor of every rooming-house, and the conductor of every
tenement-house, shall keep the same and every part thereof, and
the yards, courts, shafts exclusively belonging thereto, free
from all accumulations of dirt, filth, garbage, or other refuse
matter. The owner of such building, when notified by the chief
of the division, shall see that every part thereof, and all
cellars, halls, passages, walls, areas, yards, courts, and
spaces appurtenant thereto, are kept free from all accumulations
of dirt, filth, garbage, or other refuse matter. Any person who
shall cause or permit any filth, refuse, or perishable matter to
be cast into a shaft, court, or area or yard, in or about such
building, or shall commit any other nuisance in or about such
building, shall be subject to the penalty hereinafter provided
for violations of this act.
GARBAGE AND ASH RECEPTACLES.
Section 41. The occupant or tenant of every dwelling, and of
each apartment in a two-family house, the lessee or conductor of
every rooming-house, and the conductor of every tenement-house,
shall provide for each apartment under his supervision a
suitable non-absorbent, non-leakable, covered receptacle for
garbage, and a receptacle of approved kind for ashes. All
occupants or tenants of buildings of the foregoing classes shall
securely bundle all rubbish, waste paper, and like refuse, in
such manner as to prevent it from causing a nuisance upon the
property or upon the street when the collectors are taking it
away. Garbage chutes shall not be constructed, maintained, nor
used. Contractors or others removing refuse or other waste shall
so handle it as to prevent it from escaping or becoming a
nuisance on or to other properties or the public street.
REPAIRS.
Section 42. Every building of the grades referred to in this
act, and all parts thereof, shall be kept in good repair and the
walls damp-proof. All rain-water shall be so drained and carried
from such building as to prevent its dripping to the ground, or
causing dampness in the walls, ceilings, yards, courts, or other
areas, or in those of adjoining properties.
THE BUREAU OR BOARD OF HEALTH TO MAKE RULES
AND REGULATIONS.
Section 43. It shall be the duty of the Bureau or Board of
Health, and it is hereby empowered, to make such additional
rules and regulations governing the use, occupancy, and
sanitation and maintenance of the buildings of the grades
referred to in this act, the ground surrounding the same, and of
unoccupied lands, as may from time to time be deemed necessary.
All such rules and regulations shall be approved by select
council and promulgated by advertising, three times in each of
two newspapers published in cities of the first class, a notice
that such rules and regulations have been adopted, and where
copies thereof may be had. Such rules and regulations shall be
printed, and shall be furnished free, upon application to the
Bureau of Health. It shall be the duty of the Division of
Housing and Sanitation to enforce said rules and regulations and
the provisions of this act.
PROVISIONS FOR ENFORCING THE ACT.
Section 44. On and after the passage of this act, no
building shall be occupied or permitted to be occupied as a
rooming-house or tenement-house unless the owner or lessee of
such building, or the conductor of such tenement, shall have
first made application to the Bureau or Board of Health for a
license therefor. Such application shall be made in writing, and
shall state the nature and extent of the applicant's interest in
the property, the name and address of the owner or his agent,
the location of the building, the use to which it is to be put,
and the number of rooms to be occupied. Each application shall
be accompanied by a fee of two dollars ($2.00) for each rooming-
house, and, for a tenement-house, fifty cents ($.50) for each
apartment that is to be occupied for living purposes. The
license shall be granted, without further charge, by the chief
of the division, after he has inspected the premises and
certified that the provisions of this act and the rules and
regulations of the Bureau or Board of Health have been complied
with. Said license shall be for the remainder of the calendar
year, and may be revoked for cause.
APPEALS.
Section 45. Any person whose application for a license has
been refused or revoked, or who may be aggrieved by any order or
notice issued, or decision by the chief of the division or of
any other official, or by any department, bureau or board having
to do, or assuming to have to do, with and in the enforcement of
this act or of any rules or regulations made in accordance
therewith, may appeal therefrom, within fifteen (15) days
thereafter, to the court of common pleas of the proper county;
and such appeal shall not supersede any such notice, order, or
decision pending the entry of a final decree thereabout, unless
so ordered by the court.
INSPECTIONS.
Section 46. The chief of the division and his duly
accredited inspectors may enter and examine on any week-day,
between the hours of eight ante meridian and five post meridian,
all houses or other premises within the provisions of this act.
Such inspectors shall then wear a prescribed uniform, and show a
suitable badge and certificate of authority signed by the
Director of Public Health and Charities. No person shall hinder
such chief or any such inspector in the performance of his duty.
LICENSES TO BE DISPLAYED.
Section 47. On and after the passage of this act it shall be
unlawful for any person to let, rent, lease, or conduct any
tenement-house or rooming-house, in any city of the first class,
unless a license therefor has been issued by the Bureau or Board
of Health, in accordance with the provisions of section forty-
four of this act, and unless such license is at all times
displayed in a conspicuous place upon the walls within and close
to the outer entrance of the house.
PENALTIES.
Section 48. Any person who shall violate any of the
provisions of this act, or who shall interfere with an inspector
of the Division of Housing and Sanitation in enforcing the
provisions of this act, or of any law of the Commonwealth, or
ordinance of the city of the first class, or rule and regulation
of the Bureau or Board of Health, that has been approved by
select councils and advertised in the manner provided for in
this act, shall for every such offense, upon conviction thereof
in a summary proceeding before any magistrate of said city in
which said offense was committed, be subject to a fine of not
less than five dollars ($5.00) or more than fifty dollars
($50.00), with costs of prosecution, for the first offense; and,
for a second or subsequent offense, to a fine of not less than
twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or more than two hundred dollars
($200.00), and costs of prosecution, or by imprisonment for not
more than sixty days, or by both, at the discretion of the
court. All fines so imposed and collected to be paid into the
treasury of the said city.
NOTICES AND LIENS.
Section 49. Notices requiring compliance with this act shall
be served upon the persons required to make such compliance, or
his agent, unless otherwise herein provided, by mailing a copy
to the residence, if known, of such person or his agent; and, if
unknown, by posting a copy in a conspicuous place upon the
premises affected, which notice shall not be removed or defaced
while the condition mentioned therein exists. All notices shall
be complied with within such period, not exceeding thirty days,
as the Bureau or Board of Health may determine; and, upon
failure to comply, the Bureau or Board of Health may contract to
have the necessary work done; and the cost thereof shall be made
a lien against such property, and collectible as now provided by
law: Provided, however, That if there shall be no funds at the
disposal of such Bureau or Board of Health for the aforesaid
purpose, then the Bureau or Board of Health may contract and
have such work done, and the lien therefor shall be marked to
the use of the contractor doing the work, and shall be
collectible by such contractor as is now provided by law in
similar cases: Provided further, That the owner of the property
may, by permission of the Department of Public Health and
Charities, pay the amount of the lien thereon in five equal
yearly parts, with interest at the rate of five per cent.
REPEALER.
PROVISO.
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